Nelson welcomes new signage this summer

Visitors who come to Nelson will be welcomed by new signs in the summer, as well as new wayfinding signage to highlight all the amenities in the city.

The new sign’s design was awarded to Max Vos Coupal, and was chosen out of 30 submissions last July after a design panel review reduced the decision down to seven. Four finalists were then put to a community vote. 

CAO Kevin Cormack says council has been kept in the loop and the project is ready for completion. 

“Council got an update a few weeks ago on the signage,” he says. “The wayfinding signs and welcome to Nelson signs are all completed and will be implemented over the summer.”

Cormack says the welcome signs will be put in the exact same spots along the highway coming from Castlegar and Balfour. The exception is the sign coming from Ymir which will be relocated along Highway 6.

CFO Chris Jury says the signs have remained on budget and the cost of $309,554 has been completely covered  by grant funding.

“The signs are a grant funded project,” he says,” Jury says. “Fabrication of the signs have started now, and we are expecting them to be completed in June.

“Installation should be shortly after completion.”

The city received total grant funding for the project of $350,000. 

According to development services director Sebastien Arcand, the new designs were chosen to illustrate the city’s diversity and reflect the heritage of Nelson.

Development services director Sebastien Arcand says the signs focus on the city’s Indigenous heritage. 

“We have consulted with local First Nations to explore design options,” he says. “The options are around language or artwork.”

The new signs will pay homage to the existing ones, which were installed in the 1960s and then replicated in 2001.